Two Britons were in hospital today recovering from injuries suffered in clashes with police during the protests at the G8 gathering of world leaders in Evian, France.

Police battled to control anti-globalisation protesters on both sides of the Franco-Swiss border as leaders of the world's top seven industrialised countries and Russia gathered for the summit yesterday.

Demonstrator Martin Shaw, 39, from Ealing, west London, is being treated for multiple fractures after falling from a bridge over a river. He plummeted from the bridge over the Aubonne river near Lausanne, Switzerland, after a police officer cut a rope that he was attached to.

Meanwhile, a news photographer from south London suffered serious muscle damage to his left leg after a stun grenade exploded before his feet during a protest in Geneva.

Brixton man Guy Smallman, 31, from Images Sans Frontieres, had two hours of surgery in Geneva to repair the damage.

A largely peaceful demonstration yesterday deteriorated into battles that raged into the early hours of today. The Associated Press said police used rubber bullets, tear gas and water cannons against thousands who rampaged through Geneva, smashing windows and looting. There were nearly 50,000, said Swiss authorities.

The activists blocked traffic on bridges in Geneva and roads in Switzerland and France. Swiss police said about 15 gathered yesterday on the A1 expressway bridge and staged a sit-down protest.

Mr Shaw was injured when officers arrived. The rope, holding him and his fellow activist, was blocking traffic. A statement on the Government's official summit website said that "a policeman that had not noticed the two people suspended... cut the rope with a knife to clear the passage".

The Swiss statement said an inquiry had been opened into the incident. A woman who was connected to the other end of the rope was rescued by police.